Tribune – Comment, news and reviews from Britain's democratic left

I opened an 1886 copy of Herodotus’ Egypt and Scythia the other day and found an advert for Beecham’s pills. It was brilliant. Although a box of them cost only one shilling and three ha’pence, the ad said it was: “Admitted by thousands to be worth a Guinea a Box for Bilious and Nervous Disorders, such as Wind and Pain in the Stomach, Sick Headache, Giddiness, Fullness and Swelling after meals, Dizziness and Drowsiness, Cold Chills, Flushings of Heat, Loss of Appetite, Shortness of Breath, Costiveness, Scurvy, Blotches on the Skin, Disturbed Sleep, Frightful Dreams and all Nervous and Trembling Sensations, etc.”

I particularly like the “etc”, suggesting that the list is by no means exhaustive. And then I thought how very like David Cameron’s statements the list was.

The so-called TaxPayers’ Alliance is the most inappropriately named organisation in British politics. The right-wingers connected to this front for rolling back the state, who are intent on disabling government, don’t seem to want to pay any tax. And it’s not much of an alliance when its niche is the millimetre between the rantings of the Adam Smith Institute and the ravings of the Institute of Economic Affairs – a couple of Margaret Thatcher’s favourites which, alas, are still with us.

The optimists in Liverpool detected a positive change of language in Gordon Brown’s TUC speech. Even as he played the media game in order to outflank the Tories by using the word “cuts” – five times, just so there was no room for confusion – the Prime Minister spoke about Labour priorities.